The third week of the season in the NFL saw a number of exciting games and matchups, with teams like the Lions and Bengals pulling out big wins and some names for fantasy owners to keep an eye on after games includes James Starks, Jonathan Franklin, Daryl Richardson, Jordan Cameron, Kenbrell Thompkins and DeMarco Murray.
James Starks was injured in the game against the Bengals for the Packers, making Johnathan Franklin one of the top pickups to get this week if Starks is out for a long period of time. Franklin stepped in and made it two games in a row for a Packers back with over 100 yards and he scored a touchdown as well and now he could be the feature back.
Kenbrell Thompkins had a nice day, making two touchdown catches and Aaron Dobson made seven catches in the game and each could be solid options as well. Jordan Cameron and Josh Gordon had nice games for the Browns on Sunday after defeating the Vikings and making them 0-3 and Daryl Richardson is a player to watch after he was not effective on Sunday after dealing with a foot injury.
Some other updates from last week includes work from the Chargers, as Philip Rivers has continued to be a solid quarterback to pick up. The NFL season is just a few weeks old, but already some players have started to distinguish themselves over others and one player that has shown that he has improved from last season is San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who has thrown just one pick over two games after turning the ball over way too much last season.
The Chargers are coming off of an emotional win over the Eagles and Rivers was a big part of it, as he passed for over 400 yards and looked great and was very accurate all day for San Diego. The offense brought in by Mike McCoy has put Rivers in a comfortable position and despite the fact that the team is lacking at wide receiver, he is still putting up great numbers. The team suffered a stunning loss in Week 1, but they were able to come back and hold tight against the Eagles, who looked winded as the game went on in the new speedy Chip Kelly offense.
Rivers made the crucial throws at the end of the game to set things up for the Chargers and he has passed for over 600 yards and has only missed on 26 of 76 passes all season. He has seven touchdown passes to just one interception and despite losing Danario Alexander for the year in the preseason and Malcom Floyd last week, players have stepped up and Rivers has been able to connect. Eddie Royal has made five touchdown catches already and Antonio Gates is having a bit of a resurgence while making 10 catches for 173 yards this season already.
One reason the Chargers have been able to play better is the consistency in the running game, as Ryan Mathews appears to be healthy for the first time in years and he already has over 100 yards this season on just 29 carries and he has looked strong while doing it. Adding Danny Woodhead to the offense has opened up the screen game and Rivers looks more comfortable in the pocket than he did last season.
Rivers had one of his best games as a pro last week, throwing for nearly 420 yards and three scores in the game while not turning over the ball at all and he missed on just 11 of his 47 passes on the day. Over the past two seasons Rivers has thrown over 30 interceptions and now he is on pace to have less than half of that this season. The Chargers play the Titans next and the team is reeling after its comeback loss to the Houston Texans and now they will play another high powered offense. The last time the two teams played, Rivers had a fantastic game that ended up with a 38-10 victory with multiple touchdown passes.
The Chargers have a tough schedule this season, but after the Titans there are some winnable games in the first half, including next week against the Dallas Cowboys at home. The team plays the chargers next and then has a huge matchup with the Colts on Monday night football that will much tougher now that Trent Richardson is in the fold for Indy. The team has the Jags before their bye and also has a tough second half schedule, with the Broncos, Dolphins, Giants, Chiefs, Redskins and the Bengals before finishing with the Broncos, Raiders and Chiefs in weeks 15 through 17